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Brief Synopsis

A U.S. Marshall tries to recover stolen gold.

After stealing a shipment of gold from a stagecoach, outlaw Tom Tanner is captured but escapes as he is being taken to jail. Tanner is followed by a man named Andy Barkley, whose style of dress suggests that he is a greenhorn. Tanner ambushes Barkley and forces him to trade clothes and accompany him to a bank, where Tanner removes an envelope from a safe deposit box containing a map to the stolen gold. On the road again, Tanner and Barkley are stopped by brothers Jeff and Bart, who demand the envelope at gunpoint. Unexpectedly, Barkley disarms the brothers and takes their horses. Barkley then explains that he is a fugitive just like Tanner and suggests that they join forces, but while Barkley sleeps, Tanner rides on without him. The following day, Barkley stops at a ranch run by Karen Galt and trades his lame horse for another, then heads for the nearby town of Twin Forks, which is run by Karen's father, Edward Galt. Barkley finds Tanner in the local saloon, but Tanner pretends not to know him. Their exchange piques Galt's interest, however, and he questions Barkley about Tanner's gold, which was not discovered after the robbery. When Barkley denies all knowledge of Tanner, Galt orders his henchmen, Jeff, Bart and Sandy, to beat him. That night, after Tanner kills an intruder in his room, Galt makes it look like cold-blooded murder to force him to reveal the gold's hiding place. Barkley later helps Tanner escape from jail in exchange for a share of the gold. The two men hide out on the old Galt ranch, which is now being used as a pasture for sick horses. When Karen discovers them there, Barkley is forced to disclose to her that he is a U.S. Marshal. Recognizing Tanner and Barkley's escape horses as belonging to his ranch, Galt later questions Karen about them, and she reveals Barkley's secret, not knowing that her father is after the gold himself. When Karen overhears Galt plotting with Jeff, Bart and Sandy, however, she realizes that Barkley's life is in danger and rides to the hideout to warn him. She is followed by one of Galt's men, who summons the others to the old ranch, and Karen meets them with gunfire, which gives Barkley and Tanner a head start. When Galt discovers Karen, he places her in Sandy's custody and, together with Jeff and Bart, tracks Barkley and Tanner. Galt and his men trail Tanner and Barkley to an old mine shaft where Tanner has hidden the stolen gold. During the ensuing gunfight, Galt and his men are killed. Barkley reveals that Tanner was allowed to escape so that the gold could be retrieved. When the mine shaft then caves in, Barkley overcomes Tanner. Barkley takes his prisoner back to jail, but Karen knows he will return because he has left his horse in her care.